President Barack Obama, British Prime Minster David Cameron to attend NCAA March Madness basketball tournament in Dayton -- Mississippi Valley vs. Western Kentucky

DAYTON, Ohio -- President Barack Obama and British Prime Minster David Cameron will attend Tuesday night's NCAA play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. The two leaders will take part in a live halftime interview with analyst Clark Kellogg.

The White House said the trip will showcase the tight relationship between the two allies. Ohio also is considered a swing state for the upcoming election. Republicans criticized the trip.

"While showing off our amazing college basketball teams is great, many Americans struggling to find jobs, dealing with soaring gas prices, or concerned with our rising deficit and debt would probably like the president spend at least as much time dealing with those issues," said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

The president made his NCAA tournament picks for ESPN, and they will be unveiled Wednesday. He has not revealed whether he predicted Harvard -- where he attended law school -- to pull off an upset of Vanderbilt on Thursday.

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